Riding my bike, doing stuff off my bike

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Mission: slevless

My brother did Ironman Austria earlier this summer, and I was so inspired that I decided to sign up for a triathlon of my own. I chose a sprint distance race (the Thames Turbo Sprint Triathlon) as I felt that these distances weren’t too daunting (swim 426m, bike 21.5k, run 5k). No problem, surely? I mean, I already ride a bike and ran a marathon earlier this year, how hard can it be?

With less than three weeks until the race, this where training currently stands:

Swim: I’ve swum twice at Latchmere Pool (did 1k gracelessly but with no difficulty) and once at Tooting Bec Lido (had a panic attack after one length and tried to claw my wetsuit off, only managing to stay in the water because Bernie convinced me that I could do it). As a kid I was a good swimmer, got lots of badges and was consistently used by instructors to demonstrate good technique.

Bike: I ride over 100 miles per week, although much of this is commuting, interspersed with my new cyclocross hobby. I’m reasonably confident that I’ll be okay on the bike.

Swim: I’ve only competed once in swimming and that was in secondary school, doing 100m butterfly. I think I came 2nd, it wasn’t a strong field.

Bike: Other than cyclocross and some sportives, I’ve never raced a bike.

Run: I did a lot of athletics when I was younger (100m/200m at primary school and 400m at secondary school) but didn’t run much until last year. I’ve done a handful of 5k and 10k races, a half marathon and a marathon. I remain unable to pace myself and frequently crack under pressure.

Specific to triathlon is the issue of transitions. I’m the world’s biggest faffer. I can faff in any situation. I can’t guarantee I’m not going to have half hour transitions due to the amount of faffing that I do.